hugo_nz

My S.O had a car accident at the beginning for Feb, and the insurance wrote that car off. After many test drives, we narrowed down the choice to three models. F15 X5 Xd50i, Mercedes GLE 250d 4Matic, Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6 Limited. After much agonizing, we settled on a replacement... the F15 X5 Xdrive 50i ?I didn't grab any photos off the dealer website before they took the car down, so these will have to do for now. It's very well spec'd with some highlights being:* Bang and Olufsen Sound* Surround view* Park assist* Exclusive Nappa Mokka (NAMY)* Fineline Pure textured wood* Interior and Exterior Design Pure Experience* Adaptive suspension pack 'Professional'* Comfort seats with memory* Pano roof* 3rd row searing* Ambient lighting* Soft close doors* HUD* Adaptive LED headlights* Individual Exterior Line - Burnished Aluminium He/She (haven't decided yet) is currently wrapped in matte silver, which looks awesome, and all the chrome has been blacked out (apart from the kidney surrounds). Underneath the paint colour is mineral silver metallic A14.On the second test drive, I took my Surface Pro along and hooked the car up to ISTA+ for a full diagnostic, fully expecting the control unit tree to be lit up lit up like Christmas lights. To my joy, there were only 2 errors, and both had to do with the battery needing replacement.The car is currently being prepped and serviced, and I'll collect it after returning from a business trip next week. Right now I have to go and move our garage shelving around to make sure the 5-er and the 6-er fit side-by-side.

We'll 99% be taking the X5 home next week ?

So, my S.O was in an accident beginning of Feb, and the insurance has declared the car a total loss (considerable, given that it's only 1.5 years old, and was purchased brand new). So we have been car hunting. We test drove a slew of new cars on the weekend (Grand Cherokee, Jag E-Pace, BMW X3) and overall the Jeep was the most comfortable, the BMW the most engaging, and the Jag the most...well...generic. Not the topic of this post though. Today I test drove two pre-owned cars...a 2011 550i GT and a 2015 X5 50i. Both use the same N63 engine as my 6-er, albeit the N63TU in the X5. I was rather unhappy with the drives because BOTH drove BETTER than my 6-er. It's like the 5 and x5 we running on double-cream, and my 6-er was running on water with metal beads. Not great at all. This evening I hooked her up to ISTA+ and began a 2-hour long diagnostic session. I tested the engine for misfires, rough running, fuel mix, injector performance, fuel pressure, air intake, ignition coil functioning...the works. Finished off with a reset and relearn all adaption functions related to the DME. I also re-calibrated the EDC with new measurements and re-learned the dynamic drive defaults. Waited 15 minutes and took her for a test drive. Holy hell...the difference is night and day. Acceleration is smooth, linear and with zero hesitation. No shaking, no juddering, smooth idle and the ride is considerably more comfortable. Even the exhaust note is improved, from Eco Pro all the way through Sport+. Incredible result, and can't wait to take her on the motorway tomorrow to do some higher-speed testing. Moral of the story, if you have an F series BMW that's not running quite right...get an ESYS cable and run some tests. There's pretty much nothing you can break using ISTA+. ( I have a spare cable and software discs available if anyone is interested. $50)

A wee update. I emailed BMW NZ about this, including my calculations and the info from ETK in the email. The reply: "Yes I agree, the price you have been given is excessive, however Continental BMW have given you the correct prices that is currently in our system. The pricing in our system is not based on the German euro price, as you have calculated below, but it is normally close. We have not sold this part for many years and for some reason the pricing has not been updated automatically like it should, which I will look into. If you decide to order this part, we will do it for $3289 + gst, which is much closer to your calculation below. I have included the Parts Manager from Continental BMW into this email."

That's what Auckland City BMW charged me 3 weeks ago...

FCP Euro

What happens in October?

I get that New Zealand is small, but am I the only one who feels that BMW (and probably most auto parts providers) are taking the piss when it comes to part prices? Here's an example: 6WB Digital cluster for F10/12 etc. BMW ETK net price is listed at Euro1453.51, Dealer base price is Euro1729.94. At today's exchange rate it's $2888.09. Add GST and it becomes $3321.30. BMW NZ's price... $4950+GST ($5692.50). That's basically a 72% markup. Even with freight, customs etc. that still seems awfully high. I asked the parts guy why the price is so high compared to ETK, and he said that they cannot even see the Net price...they get pricing direct from BMW New Zealand. Another example: Ignition coils. A common part shared with pretty much every model line. Europart wants $90+gst for a generic Chinese part or $50 for a used part. BMW charges close to $500 for a single coil + labour. I ordered 8 Bosch new generation ignition coils, 8 high-power ZR5TPP33 spark plugs, front brake pads, both engine air filters and a deflector pulley online for...wait for it...$970 including shipping, customs, MPI and GST. (versus the $828 the generic Chinese coils alone would've cost). For interest sake, that same Bosch ignition coil according to ETK is net E30.32, dealer E48.90=$81.64 ($93.86 incl)... Am I missing a fundamental piece of the New Zealand economic puzzle here? There's no duty on part imports, only GST. and on GST. of more than $60 there the MPI and Entry fees, but even those are not outlandish. What am I missing? If you have recently purchased parts from BMW direct (or original new BMW parts from somewhere else) feel free to post the part numbers here and I will get the most up-to-date ETK pricing for comparison.

Picked these up on eBay. BMW original and brand new for under $100. Also thought I'd show off my sparkling clean engine with her new turbo coolant hoses.

Monday after a meeting I was getting onto the motorway when "bong" this error came up. The car went into limp mode, quite a bit of engine shake. Limped to Auckland City BMW, got a rental car organized through my American Express roadside assist benefit and proceeded to wait for BMW to quote repair. These result in anything from coils, fuel pumps, injectors, transmission...you name it. Luckily it was only the no 8 cylinder ignition coil that needed replacing, but while the car was there BMW also found leaking turbo coolant lines as well as a cracked rear differential mount. Fun and games, but Dylan (my service advisor) only phone me with the news after he received approval from Autosure to carry out the work ? Picked the car up yesterday, cost me $1500 in excesses (3 claims because they are all unrelated) for around $5000 of work. The rear diff mounting is particularly labour intensive since you pretty much disassemble the entire rear suspension to get to it. Moral of the story, don't underestimate the value of warranties...

The kind you buy at New World. Just regular old steel wool...

Washing the 6-er this morning I noticed the windscreen was looking rather tired. Water spots all over and the entire surface was dull. The wiper area was a tad better but it was all rather sad looking. After a quick search on Google I used the following to restore the windscreen: Meguiar's SkratchX 2.0 and some steel wool. Now, it's difficult to show just how bloody effective it is but believe me, the windscreen looks good as new. Firm circular motions all across the windscreen and a good clean afterwards and finish off with a layer of RainX. Off topic: Moving inside the house I figured it might work on shower glass too and yup, it does. Shower glass is good as new now after several unsuccessful attempts with shower witch and other chemical cleaners.

Detailed the interior today...she is sooo pretty.

Why BMW sells a quarter-million-dollar car without lumbar support is just beyond me. The sports seats are comfortable enough on short trips, but even an hour-long motorway commute in the morning can become a pain...no pun intended. I have been researching doing a lumbar retrofit using BMW parts. The wiring and install are both super easy, and the lordosis pad and pump cheap enough to get on eBay, BUT the biggest obstacle is the lumbar control switch on the side of the seat. In previous generations, this used to be a separate switch so retrofitting it was easy. Now, however, it is integrated on the main PCB of the switch cluster, meaning you have to either buy a new switch cluster from BMW or find one on eBay. I have not been able to find any sports seat with lumbar switches at all. Only the basic one (like I have) or the full monty for the comfort seats (which interface with the car differently so not an option). Now, there are plenty of manual lumbar pump solutions out there using little hand pumps and what not, but I know myself well enough to admit that this option simply won't do. So, after some searching and negotiation with an overseas manufacturer, I have ordered a lumbar and massage retrofit kit. Comes with: Air Pump Controller 6 air pods for massage 1 lumbar pad 2 wired switches Power connector Installation is a simple two-wire affair using an inline fuse, so no need to tap into the car's fuse relays. The cost of this kit is much less than retrofitting with used BMW parts, let alone new ones. I will update more on the progress once the kit arrives. If it passes muster I am considering importing a bunch of them for resale. In the meantime, fed up with the lack of lumbar support I decided to install some padding today. I used an old yoga matt and installed between the seat cushion and wire-frame (exactly where the lumbar pad would be).

Good to know. ISTA+ recons my front pads are at 26% so will be doing those soon. Will give Sterling a call.

Yes, they are refunding the new bolts, the removal of the stuck one as well as what I paid for the wheel balancing that started all of this.

So the 6-er has been an...interesting car so far. This is the tale of my recent rear brake change... The rear brakes were getting on, with the little orange car showing up every time I start the car. Now, I have driven top-shelf German cars for the longest time and know full well the maintenance cost associated with them, but BMW New Zealand is taking this piss when it comes to part prices. Rear brake pads and a sensor for almost $500, I think not...thank you very much. With the F12 not being all that popular in NZ none of the spares places have any brake pads for them, nor for the F10 it would seem, so I went the eBay route (which I have done plenty of times before). I bought these: EBAY LINK. $250 for front and rear pads...sweet. Then I get a letter from Auckland Transport in the mailbox. "Dear so and so, your next WOF is on us!"...yep, the WOF that was done on my car when I purchased it was done by one of the now-suspended inspectors, and I need to get it re-checked before the end of January 2019. No worries, brake pads are on their way so once that's sorted the car will be good as gold. Shipment "with" pads arrive from the UK...tracking status updated to "shortage" which means that the pads were on the manifest, but not in the cargo. Great, no I have to lodge a claim with eBay. Fine, I'll get a refund, but now my car is screaming "330km to go until the brake light turns red". I consider the BMW route again but decided to reference the HELLA PAGID catalogue for OEM part numbers, and I find them. As luck would have it an Aussie store sells them: LINK for just over a hundy. Order, pay and delivered i 4 days flat. #Winning! Now in the meantime, I had my car's wheel balance and alignment done, after getting the front tyres replaced. This was done by Beaurepairs Takanini. All good, car feels much better afterwards. On Monday I finally get the ISTA+ software working on my Mac (needed to put the electronic park brake into service mode, else you have to disassemble it in order to wind it back for the brake pad job). Ready to rock and roll...let's get the wheels off. Nah, not happening. Bolts are on so tight that my bar won't budge them. Go up to Beaurepairs so they can loosen them...super surprised that they are on so tight. Can't get the one rear locknut off. After trying for 45 minutes they give up...so off to BMW I go. They tell me that the inside shape of locknut is damaged...how? Because Beaurepairs used a rattle gun on the bolts. BMW try for 45 minutes and give up. The bolt is screwed (pun intended) and the lock nut simply slips out when you apply pressure. They recommend getting it drilled out...but the place they use is closed until mid-January. While I was there I picked up 4 new regular wheel bolts to replace the locking ones ($55). On the way home I call Beaurepairs head office and speak to the area manager, who is very apologetic and helpful. She calls me back having found a place that could help me on Friday morning. I call them and explain the situation in detail, nah...beyond their skills. Recommend I go to Pitstop Botany. Call them, and they ask me to bring the car in today (Thursday). Go there this morning and an hour later the bolt is out. They welded a blob onto it in order to get it out, with no damage to the rim ($200). Get home, get the wheels off and replace the pads and sensor. 90 minutes all in. Not a bad effort and floating callipers make it a super easy job. Moral of the story: do not let anyone with a rattle gun near your car if you have lock nuts. -The End-

Where???

Yep. The ride comfort is much improved and the steering actually feels lighter. Road noise level is also reduced.

Yep, went for non ROF. I keep a spare in the garage but also took hazard cover on the new ones. Bought them from Beaurepairs on a buy one get one half price offer. $700 for both and $90 for fitting and the hazard cover. Also considering the 050s for my rears. They are $605 each which is still way better then the Maxx GTs at over $800.

Nope they are narrow and wide setup. Fronts are 245/35/20 and rears are 275/30/20.

Had a bit of bad luck with the 6-er lol. First an old dude drove into me last month (minor damage and repaired exceptionally well by German Kollision) and then on Thursday I find out the inner edge of my front tyres are shredded. Two new front tyres fitted yesterday. I went with the newer Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 050 rather than the older Sport Maxx GT ROF.

Good to hear. The 5L NA/V8 is surprisingly frugal (that being said, the bi-turbo in my V8 is surprising me as well). The active cruise control is a bit outdated by today's standards. I had an older ACC system on my CLS550 too and it was really only useful on long motorway journeys. By comparison the active cruise control on the new Tiguan for instance is superb working all the way down to zero. Glad that you're enjoying the big cat. I see quite a few of them out and about in Auckland...would be lying if I said I don't still look twice whenever I drive past one. Such a stunning design. Really looking forward to what Jag does for the next generation XJ.

Been spotting quite a few 6-ers recently ?

How's the Jag treating you?